


hold it, focus, hoping

by waywardprentiss



Series: strawberry lipstick state of mind [2]
Category: The West Wing
Genre: American Sign Language, Banter, Canon Disabled Character, Developing Relationship, Domestic Fluff, Episode: s01e21 Lies Damn Lies and Statistics, F/M, Past Josh Lyman/Sam Seaborn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:08:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27579616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waywardprentiss/pseuds/waywardprentiss
Summary: "It's almost hard to believe you're not married."He jerks his head around to look at Joey and sees that there's a twinkle in her eye. He feels his face flush again and his mind goes back to the way she kissed his neck yesterday morning.After a second, Joey arches an eyebrow at him so he stutters through a reply, scoffing. "Oh-ho! Many have tried."
Relationships: Joey Lucas/Josh Lyman, Josh Lyman & Donna Moss, Josh Lyman & Sam Seaborn
Series: strawberry lipstick state of mind [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1988872
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	hold it, focus, hoping

**Author's Note:**

> i didn't think i would write a sequel/part two but i got the idea of following the next episode in the season and exploring the scenes they had in it if they were dating so... this happend

Josh wakes to find sunlight streaming through the window of his bedroom.

He groans, stretching his legs under the covers.

Hair is tickling the bare skin of his shoulder so he turns to look at the person still sleeping soundly next to him.

The sun casts a soft glow around Joey's golden brown hair and Josh just stares, mesmerized. 

They haven't seemed to move a muscle since they fell asleep so his left arm is still wrapped around her. His fingers caress her bare shoulder almost unconsciously and he watches as her eyes flutter open.

She blinks up at him and with the arm she still has around him, she squeezes his waist. 

"Good morning." Joey mumbles, before closing her eyes again. She nestles into the crook of his neck and he feels her lips press a kiss there.

Josh's hand moves up to touch the back of her head softly and he twists his own slightly to kiss her forehead.

They stay wrapped up in each other for a moment longer before he shuffles back so he can meet her eye.

He touches her cheek with his knuckles as he whispers, "Good morning to you."

Smiling, she reaches up to lightly grasp his chin with her hand and pulls him into a kiss.

Josh's fingers tangle in her hair as he deepens the kiss. They trade several more slow deep kisses before Joey pulls back. She taps her wrist and signs, spelling out the letters T, I, M and E. "Time?"

He can't help but place one more quick kiss on her lips before reluctantly rolling over. He reaches for his watch that he keeps on his bedside table. Josh holds it up to his face and squints at in the low morning light. 

"Just past 6." He says after turning his head back toward her so she can see his lips.

She furrows her brows like she doesn't believe him but nods. She goes to sit up but he pulls her back in toward his chest. 

He smiles against her lips as they kiss. She places a hand on his cheek after a moment before pulling back. She folds her arms accross his chest and props her chin on her hands. 

"I should get back. I have to change before coming in." She signs as she speaks and Josh is learning but she's a little too quick for him and it is early so he doesn't really register it.

He nods and is rewarded with a quick kiss before she's getting out of bed.

Josh sits up and leans against his elbow. His eyes trace her bare back as she picks up his button up shirt from yesterday off the floor and slips her arms into it.

She turns around, buttoning it and smirks at him when she catches him staring. She comes back over to pick up her own watch from the night stand closest to her on what Josh is definitely not calling her side.

Joey checks the time as she fastens the watch to her wrist. She glances up at him when she's done. "Your watch is wrong. You'll be late."

He huffs. "I'll be fine."

She rolls her eyes at him and points to the bathroom off to the side of his room. "Back in a minute."

Once the bathroom door closes behind her, Josh collapses back on the bed to revel in the warm sheets for a moment longer.

Eventually, he kicks the covers back and gets up to head over to his closet and pulls a t-shirt out. He tugs it on over his head as he makes his way out into the hall.

Josh flicks the light on in the kitchen and goes over to start up a pot of coffee. As the coffee drips, he opens up a cabinet and pulls down a mug for himself and a thermas for Joey to take with her.

He thinks back over the last couple weeks as he hears her shuffling around in the other room.

They've been on a couple dates since that night in her office where she first kissed him and honestly, they've both been so busy planning for the poll they're running this week that it's been hard to find time to get together outside of work. It was miracle they found time to get dinner together last night.

Even though it hasn't been that long, part of him feels like he's already in too deep. He didn't want her to get out of bed earlier. He's realizing he doesn't like to sleep alone. 

Ignoring that slightly terrifying thought, Josh pushes it to the back of his mind as the pot beeps and he fills both of their cups with fresh coffee.

He's sitting the thermas down on the island when she comes out into the kitchen. She comes to a stop in front of him, now dressed in her blouse and jeans from yesterday, and looks pointedly to the thermas.

She quirks an eyebrow up at him before picking it up and opening the cap to peer inside. Her face softens as she sees it full of coffee, lightened with milk, just like Josh knows she likes it.

She smiles and signs a quick, "thank you" before walking over to the couch to grab her bag.

Josh takes a small sip of his own coffee, his eyes following her across the room. He sets his mug down on the counter and meets her by the front door.

He helps her into her coat and when she turns around, she pulls him closer with an arm around his waist. She leans in and places a soft kiss on his lips. 

"I'll see you later?" He asks, when she pulls back.

She raises an eyebrow. "I imagine so. I'll be right down the hall."

Josh laughs, rolling his eyes.

"You know what I meant." He says, touching her cheek briefly before pulling back from her embrace.

She smiles, putting her bag over her shoulder as she signs, "Yes."

He huffs. "Bye, Joey."

"Bye." She says before turning around to open the door and leave.

Josh stands in his hallway for a minute after she's gone, bewildered. He shakes his head in laughter before finally turning around to go get ready for the day.

-

She's right. He ends up being fifteen minutes late to work. Everyone's running around preparing for the start of the job approval poll tonight so no one seems to notice so he quickly forgets about it.

"Did you sleep in?" Donna asks when he walks past her desk.

Well, everyone except her.

He goes straight into his office and sets his bag down. He throws his jacket over the back of his chair before sitting down. "Maybe."

In the doorway, Donna pauses at his casual tone. Her face breaks out into a smirk. "Joey?"

Josh glances up from shuffling papers around on his desk. He just looks at her for a minute and she squeals. "Josh! You didn't tell me it was going that well."

He huffs out a laugh. "Well, yes. It's going well. Are you happy?"

Right at that moment, his phone rings and Donna nods. She pats the doorframe and gives him a wide smile before turning around and walking back to her desk.

Josh smiles, grateful for her enthusiasm and support even if he doesn't tell her that as much as he should. He picks up the phone.

"This is Josh Lyman."

-

Josh only sees Joey in passing in the halls a couple times throughout the day. He had a lunch meeting and when he came by later in the afternoon, she was so engrossed in her work he didn't want to interrupt.

Later that night, he's walking back through the hallway toward his office with Donna trailing behind him. "They have to start the poll, Josh - it's 7:05."

He raises an eyebrow at her. "It's ten to 7."

"No, it's really not."

"It's 7:05?"

"Yeah."

Josh looks down at his watch. "That's ridiculous."

Donna huffs behind him. "I'm not making it up."

"My watch says ten to 7." He twists his arm around to show her.

She ignores him. "That's because your watch sucks."

"My watch is fine!" Josh exclaims as they pass by her desk.

Donna huffs. "Your watch is wrong. It says it's ten to 7."

Still looking down at his watch, he pauses in front of his office. "Joey said the same thing this morning."

She squints at him, confused. "That your watch is wrong?"

He looks up at her, dropping his arm. "Yeah."

Recognition apears on her face and is quickly followed by a smirk. He looks away, catching sight of Toby further down the hall and starts walking toward him. "Shut up."

"I'm just saying I want to be best man. Or best woman. I guess Sam would be best man."

Josh ignores her and changes the subject even as he feels his face flush. "How do I know it isn't ten to 7?"

Donna rolls her eyes both at his question and at his attempt to distract her. "Because those large clocks in the hall that are run by The United States Navy say your watch sucks in four different time zones!"

-

After talking with Toby, CJ and Leo about the phrasing of the questions in the poll and their predictions, Josh heads over to Joey's office.

He stops and leans on the doorframe. Kenny looks up and nods before getting Joey's attention. He signs something Josh can't pick up and she turns to look at him.

Her eyes light up at the sight of him and he forgets for a second the stress the earlier meeting had given him.

She smiles. "Hi."

"Hey." Josh doesn't even try to conceal the grin of his face. "They just started the poll. And don't forget - I want to go over a counterargument to English as the national language in the morning."

He revels in the way she rolls her eyes. She starts to sign and Kenny translates. "They've not going to-."

"No, be ready." Josh interrupts and then ignores her sigh of exasperation. "Come here."

Joey pursues her lips but gets up from her desk. She stops right in front of him. "Yes?"

"Hey." He smiles again, his voice lower so Kenny doesn't hear. 

"Hi." She repeats, smiling while tilting her head to the side and Josh suddenly remembers her doing that the night she first kissed him right here in this room.

"When are you leaving tonight?"

She laughs. "Probably before you."

"Yeah." He laughs as he reaches out, touching her bicep briefly before sliding his hand down her arm to grab her hand. "Let me know when you get to the hotel?"

"Okay." She signs with her free hand.

He grins, signing back the letters O and K a little slower. "Okay."

Joey smiles as he takes a step back without letting go of her hand.

She squeezes his hand and he just spends a moment staring at her before saying, "Okay. I'll see you in the morning."

He squeezes her hand before letting go. She nods fondly, a soft smile on her face. "Bye."

Josh pats the doorframe, nodding before turning around and making his way back to his office.

-

She ends up being right, again. As he's getting up to refill his coffee mug for the third time, he sees that the light in her office is off.

When Josh finally reaches a stopping point hours later, he heads back to his apartment to catch some sleep. 

The moment he gets in the door, he goes over to his desk to check his computer and finds an email waiting for him.

It's just a simple message of her saying goodnight and that she made it back to her room alright but it makes his chest feel warm.

Josh doesn't even care that he has to be up again in four hours. He gets ready for bed and settles under his covers. He falls asleep with a smile on his face, the warmth he's feeling in his chest reminding him of sunlight caressing a soft pale shoulder.

-

Josh is back in the office approximately five and a half hours after he fell asleep. He sees Joey approximately two hours after that.

When he comes into the doorway of her office, her back is to him. Kenny is nowhere to be found so he walks up and taps her on the shoulder. 

She glances up from the papers spread over her desk and smiles when she sees it's him. "Hey."

Josh braces a hand on her desk before leaning in to kiss her lips. It's quick but tender and they're both smiling as they pull back.

He signs, "Hi."

Joey's grin brightens. She signs as she asks, "How much sleep did you get?"

He leans his hip against her desk, smirking. "Oh, plenty!"

At the raise of her eyebrow, he holds up four fingers. 

Her laugh rings out loud in the room and it's slowly becoming Josh's favorite sound.

He glances around her desk and notices the lack of beverage. "You want me to get you a cup of coffee?"

She shakes her head. "Kenny is getting some."

"Okay." He nods a little. "How was your night? Sleep well?"

Joey leans back in her chair, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She smirks up at him. "Well, I got more than you."

Josh huffs out a laugh as Kenny enters the room. He hands Joey one of the mugs in his hands then signs something quick to her before looking up at Josh. "Hey, Josh."

"What's up, Kenny? How ya doing?"

Kenny smiles and shoots Joey a look Josh can't decipher from where he's standing by the filling cabinet. "I'm good. How are you?"

"Awesome." He says, while throwing a thumbs up in his direction.

Joey rolls her eyes at him as she takes a sip of her coffee.

Josh taps her arm breifly, taking extreme delight in teasing her. "Ready with that counterargument?"

Kenny translates and he watches as Joey shakes her head just like he knew she would. "We already talked about this, Josh. The Republicans won't bring it up."

"But we need to be ready if they do."

Joey throws her hands up, huffing. She gets up out of her seat and walks over to stand next to the filling cabinet by Kenny.

"The Republicans won't bring it up." She says again, hands quick in movement with a spark of passion in her eye that Josh can't get enough of.

He'd do anything to keep that look there so he continues to antagonize her about it. He's determined to have her argue back at him so he goes over to stand in front of her. "They might put it on the table."

The look intensifies as she signs, "They won't put it on the table."

"They might!"

"They won't." Kenny translates before Joey huffs and pushes him to the side toward her desk so she has clearer view of Josh. She props an elbow on the cabinet next to her and brings a hand up to touch her temple.

"I'm saying," Josh puts a hand on his hip. "If they do put it on the table-"

She interups, "They won't."

Ignoring the smirk on Kenny's face, he exclaims, "Is there any possibility you're gonna let me finish a sentence? Is there any chance at all?"

Joey scrunches her face up and touches her ear as her eyes flip from Kenny's face back to Josh. "You don't have to raise your voice to me."

Flabbergasted, he says, "How the hell do you know if I'm raising my voice at you?"

"I guessed!" She says aloud, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Smiling, Josh takes delight in getting on her nerves. "You're here to give me a counterargument on English as the official language of the United States."

Joey raises her eyebrows at Kenny as he continues, "You are not here to speculate on whether or not the Republicans are gonna put the issue on the table."

"Okay." She says, with a mockingly serious tone and nods her head at him.

He grins. "Good!"

She looks toward Kenny and signs something quick that Josh doesn't catch. He looks at Kenny. "What did she say?"

Shooting him a small smile, Kenny says, "They won't."

"Okay," he sighs, closing his eyes. He rubs quickly at them before dropping his hand and looking at Joey again. "Look-"

Donna's voice from behind him interrupts, "Josh."

"What?" He turns around and steps back into the doorway to stand beside her.

"You wanted me to let you know when CJ started talking about the drug memo."

"CJ started her briefing already?"

Donna nods.

He glances down at his watch. "The briefing's not supposed to start till 11."

"Guess what?"

Josh suddenly remembers yesterday morning. "My watch sucks?"

"Yes, indeed." 

He glances back at Joey to see her smirking from across the room as her hands move. Kenny translates with a careful tone. "It seems like I told you something similar yesterday, Joshua."

Donna beams. "I'm so glad you brought that up, Joey. I've been meaning to ask you-"

"Okay." Josh interrupts, flustered. He stops her from going further into the room with a single look and she sighs. 

"Fine." Before she turns to go though, she tells Joey, "I'll catch you later."

Joey grins at her as she leaves and Josh thinks he'd be in trouble if the two of them ever became friends.

He steps further into the room again, his gaze locked on Joey. He's determined to get in the last word. "When I get back, you're going to argue with me. We're going to argue about the things I want to argue about and you're gonna do your best not to annoy me to much."

Josh turns around before he's even done speaking but he stops in the doorway when he hears Kenny's voice.

"It's almost hard to believe you're not married."

He jerks his head around to look at Joey and sees that there's a twinkle in her eye. He feels his face flush again and his mind goes back to the way she kissed his neck yesterday morning.

After a second, Joey arches an eyebrow at him so he stutters through a reply, scoffing. "Oh-ho! Many have tried."

She laughs silently at him, shaking her head fondly. Josh grins at her as he backs out into the hall.

He bumps into Donna outside Joey's office and she updates him on Toby. He lets her ramble on about Hawaii and and how he's never taken her there but he should as they make their way into his office. 

"Okay." He stops her talk about scuba diving as he grabs the remote off his desk to unmute the TV in his office.

"Or you could take Joey." 

Josh pauses with his hand on the remote. "What?"

She looks up from the folder in her hands. "I think she's good for you."

Stunned, he gaps at her and Donna laughs.

"Shut up." He mumbles, turning back to the TV and flicking on the volume.

-

It's late in the afternoon when Josh looks up from the memo he's reading to see Joey and Kenny standing in his office doorway. He leans back in his chair. "Hey."

"We're going over to the phone banks. Al wants me to check in on how it's going."

"Okay." He smiles at her as he comes around to lean against the front of his desk. "I'll probably head over in a bit."

She smiles before saying aloud, "Okay."

"We can continue our conversation from earlier." Josh says, putting his hands in his pockets. He comes up to stand in front of her and grins.

She rolls her eyes but Josh doesn't miss the way she's fighting back a smile. "Fine."

"Okay." He sways a little on his feet. "I'll see you later."

Joey smiles at him, waving goodbye. She turns around and Kenny nods at him before following her down the hall. 

-

"Theodore Roosevelt said-"

"Josh..." Joey interrupts, sighing.

"No." He shakes his head. They've been at the phone banks for a while now and he finally has the opportunity to argue with her again and he's not wasting it. "Let me tell you what Theodore Roosevelt said."

She throws her hands up in annoyance before signing. "What do I care what Theodore Roosevelt said?"

"Because the Republicans are going to bring it up!"

Joey steps closer, shaking her head. "The Republicans aren't going to put it on the table."

"He said, 'We have room for but one language here and that is the English language for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans and not as dwellers in a polyglot boarding house.'"

Joey looks up at him with an amused expression on her face as her eyes flick back and forth between him and Kenny.

"What kind of boarding house?" The confused sound of Kenny's voice makes him look over at him.

"Polyglot." He answers, before looking back down at Joey. "It means having knowledge of or speaking-"

A slightly offended look crosses her face. "I know what polyglot means."

Josh huffs out a laugh, placing a hand on his chest. "Then why did you ask me?"

"He asked you!" She exclaims aloud pointing at Kenny. She turns away and he sighs. He pats Kenny on the back before speaking again.

"My point is-"

"Would the two of you shut up?" Mandy's voice interrupts him. "Or the three of you? However many of you are talking? Could half of you stop?"

He smirks at Kenny. "Mandy's wound up a little tight during polling windows."

CJ's voice cuts through their conversation as she comes between him and Kenny to stand near Mandy. "What are you all doing here?"

Josh turns toward Joey. "Here's another laid-back member of our team."

"What are you all doing here?" CJ repeats.

"Mandy's here because she's suppoesed to be." Josh says. "Joey's here because Al Kiefer told her to stop by."

CJ asks, "And what are you doing here?"

He grins. "I'm kind of in charge of morale."

"Josh." CJ sighs and he can see Joey smirk out of the corner of his eye.

He looks around the room at the callers. "The calls are going great."

"I'm trying to meet a deadline, Josh. I've got a 48 hour window and you can't stand here distracting the female callers."

Joey snorts at his side but Josh ignores her in favor of walking forward to address the room. "Have I been distracting the female callers?"

Most of then turn around in their seats and mutter, "No."

"Josh." CJ says, disapprovingly.

"Not even a little?"

"This is what I'm saying!" 

He turns back around at CJ's voice. "The window is fine, it's a good response rate. They're making their quotas. Stop bothering me."

CJ turns to Joey. "Did Josh mention he's in charge of morale?"

Josh ignores her and makes his way back to Joey's side. He touches her elbow and changes the subject. "You should've been more impressed that I was able to quote Theodore Roosevelt."

He looks over his shoulder at Kenny to see the other man sign before turning back to face Joey.

He squeezes her arm as she laughs. "I was impressed that you knew what polyglot meant."

Josh smirks down at her. "760 S.A.T. word, baby."

She shakes her head but smirks up at him. He can hear CJ and Mandy groan behind him.

"Hey." He whispers to her, motioning to the door. He releases her arm to place a hand on her back as he guides her a few feet away so they have a little privacy.

"You want to get a coffee or a tea or something? There's a café around the corner."

She looks out over the room before looking back up at him. She nods. "I have a few things to wrap up here but sure."

"So..." He glances down at his watch. "Twenty minutes?"

Joey laughs and reaches out to cover his watch. "Wrong, remember?"

"Yeah." He laughs. "Right."

She holds out her watch for him to see the correct time. "Twenty minutes."

"Alright." Josh fiddles with his watch to set it to the right time before he smiles back up at her.

She smiles back and he reaches out to squeeze her arm again. 

He offers a silent wave before turning around and heading out the door.

-

Josh is halfway done with his chai tea when he sees Joey walks in the door of the café.

He's at a small table in the back so he waves to get her attention. She catches his eye and laughs as she makes her way to him.

She places her bag at her feet as she settles in the chair in front of him. "Hey."

"Hey." He smiles as he finger spells, "Latte?"

She nods so he waves down a waiter.

"I was thinking about getting a sandwich. Do you want one?"

Joey nods and moves to pick up her bag. She digs out a small notebook and pen before sitting it back at her feet.

Their waiter comes up and Josh orders her latte and a turkey sandwich for himself while Joey writes down her order and holds it up for their waiter to see.

He leaves with a nod and Josh turns his attention back to Joey.

"Everything go okay?"

"Yeah." She smiles. "Just had to talk to CJ for a minute."

At Josh's curious look, she shakes her head. "Later."

Once their food and Joey's drink arrives, their conversation dwindles down a bit but Josh doesn't mind.

After they've finished, Joey pulls her notebook closer to her and writes something down. She slides it across the table.

He moves his plate to the side to see it. "Not that I'm not enjoying our impromptu date but was there something you wanted to talk about?"

Josh glances back up at her. When she shrugs unashamed, he smirks. "I can't just want to spend time with my girlfriend?"

He doesn't realize what he's said until her eyebrows shoot up.

"Girlfriend?" She signs.

"I mean," he stutters. "I guess we've never explicitly talked about it."

She smiles, nodding. "You wanna talk now?"

"I know it's only been a couple weeks," he nervously scratches his neck. "But I really like you."

Joey smiles softly at him and reaches out to squeeze his hand on the table. She pulls back and signs, "I like you, too."

He grins. "That's good."

Josh feels his face drop slightly and she scrunches her eyes up in confusion. "What is it?"

He clears his throat. "I'm not usually like this. I'm not really one to talk about my feelings and I don't usually commit this early in a relationship. Or even at all if I'm being honest."

"Really?" She gives him a sarcastic look and he cracks a smile before getting serious again.

"I've told you about my dad and Joanie. It really fucked me up." She smiles encouragingly at him so he goes on. "I'm afraid to lose more people that I care about so I'm usually hesitant to get attached to someone in the first place."

She reaches out to touch his hand again and he grips back. "But I like you. There's just always been something about you. And I'm serious about this if it's something you want too."

He signed the first part and she smiles with a knowing look in her eye that lets Josh know she's thinking of that night in her office as well. She squeezes his hand before pulling back and writing something down in her notebook again.

Joey turns it toward him after a minute and it reads, "That is definitely something I want too. I've had trouble with relationships in the past as well so I know what you mean."

He looks up at her and she says aloud, "Figure it out together, right?"

Josh nods before gently taking pen out if her hands. She raises an eyebrow at him but smiles anyway.

He writes down the sentence, "So. Girlfriend?"

Joey laughs when she reads it. Signing, she speaks aloud as well. "Sure, boyfriend."

Josh grins and she goes to put the notebook and pen back in her bag. Her smile widens suddenly and she bites her lip, looking up at him. "Want to get out of here?"

His attention is drawn to her lips, his mind captivated by the same red lisptick she's wore the entire time he's known her. "Hell yes, I do."

-

The moment they make it to his apartment, he backs Joey up against the front door and leans down to capture her lips in a kiss.

She gasps into his mouth and brings a hand up to run her fingers through his hair and suddenly they're making out like teenagers in the hall of his building.

Josh gets lost in the feeling of her lips, her soft hands moving up and down his back. He ends up with his fingers tangled in her hair as he pulls back. He can't help but tease her. "So, I went on and on about you earlier. You have anything you want to share?"

She smirks up at him, digging her nails slightly into the middle of his back and Josh's chest catches fire. "Get the door open and I'll show you instead."

He blanks for a minute before quickly pulling back just enough to fumble with his keys. Joey smiles  
against his jaw as he finally gets the door open. 

She pulls him into the apartment by the lapels of his suit and Josh barely remembers to shut the door behind them.

-

Josh whistles as he walks into The White House the next morning.

"Good morning, Donna." He greets as he comes up to her desk.

She doesn't look away from her computer, her fingers still flying over her keyboard. "Hi, Josh."

He raps his knuckles on her desk before turning to go into his office. He yells over his shoulder, "It's a beautiful morning, Donna!"

Josh hears a sigh quickly followed by the squeak of her chair as she gets up and appears in his doorway.

"What's wrong with you?"

He settles in his chair, laughing. "What did you mean?" 

"Your face."

Confused, he asks. "What's wrong with my face?"

"You're grinning," She says, skeptically. "And you were just whistling."

He starts to shake his head but then catches sight of Joey coming through the hall behind Donna. He stops right before speaking as Joey meets his eye.

He grins at her and she waves. She shakes her head fondly at him before turning back to Kenny who Josh just now noticed is walking in beside her.

"See! You're doing it now."

Josh blinks back up at Donna. "What?"

"You haven't stopped smiling!" She exclaims. "Who do you see out there?"

She turns around and catches sight of the two of them as they round the corner toward Joey's office. Donna looks back at him with a smile of her own.

"Aw, Josh! That's so sweet. Did something happen?" She smirks. "Good night?"

Josh feels his face heat up and he gives her a stern look. "Yes, actually. Not that it's any of your business."

Donna huffs, rolling her eyes. "Whatever. I'm just happy that you're happy."

She turns around without another word but he stops her before she gets to her desk. "Donna?"

She twists her head around. "Yeah?"

"Thanks." He says, letting a grin take over his face again.

She nods, smiling and Josh sees her cheeks turn pink before she turns around and goes back to her desk.

Josh sits there for minute, smiling down at his desk before focusing on the work day ahead.

-

A little while later, there's a knock on his door and he looks up to see Joey standing in his doorway.

"Hey." He grins, leaning back in his chair. "Didn't get enough of me last night?"

She smirks, eyeing him out of the corner of her eye as she comes in the room and settles in the chair across from him. "I wanted to talk to you about CJ."

He nods, leaning forward over his desk at her serious tone. "Sure. What's up?"

"She was upset last night. About the predictions." She starts, speaking slowly and signing. "She thinks she only has so many times left where she can walk into the Oval Office and sing a song."

He frowns. "Sing of song?"

She makes a face at him before signing the last part of her sentence again only this time spelling each letter out. 

"Oh." He gets it after a minute. Josh has been learning sign and he knows some numbers and a few random ones but he knows the alphabet the best so they do a lot of spelling out words together when he doesn't quite understand something. "And say you're wrong."

He repeats it back to her, spelling out each letter. She nods repeating the sign from earlier. 

Josh makes the letter Y then brings his hand up so his knuckles touch his chin. He twists his hand. She smiles in approval.

He nods. "I'll talk to her."

"I told her that holding at 42 is good."

"I know it is." He nods again. "I'll talk to her about it."

Joey nods and sends him a smile before getting up out of her chair. As she turns around to face the door, Sam appears in the doorway.

"Oh, hey." Sam says, flustered. "I didn't know you were busy."

His eyes dart between Josh and Joey, knowingly. 

"I was just leaving." Joey says, stepping around him in the doorway. "Good to see you, Sam."

"Yeah! You too." He says before she turns around to go.

Almost like they timed it, Sam smirks at him as Joey shoots him a similar look over Sam's shoulder. Neither of them realizing the other one is doing it and Josh inwardly groans. 

He really should've known telling Joey about him and Sam would come back to bite him and he definitely shouldn't have let Sam see how far gone he is over Joey.

Josh suddenly doesn't know what would be worse for him: Donna being best friends with Joey or Sam.

He blinks out of his daze to see Sam alone in his doorway. "What'd you need?"

The smirk drops from his face as comes up to stand behind the chair Joey was just in. "I saw Laurie last night. I was just giving her a graduation present but someone got a picture of us hugging."

Josh exhales, loudly. "Sam."

"I know. CJ is already handling it. I just spoke with Toby and the President. The President wants me to talk to someone at the counsel's office so I'm gonna be over there for a while."

He sags a little so he's leaning against the chair. "I just wanted to let you know in case Leo hadn't already told you."

Josh goes over to him and puts a hand on his shoulder. "We'll work it out. You know we're behind you, right?"

Sam smiles, leaning into the touch. "That's what Toby said."

"Well, he's right every once in a while."

They share a laugh before Sam shakes his head. "It's just ridiculous. We're not even dating, you know that. She's just my friend."

Josh squeezes his shoulder again before dropping his hand. "I know. Try not to worry about it, okay?"

"Yeah." Sam gives him a small smile. "Thanks, Josh."

He suddenly smirks again. "So, Joey, huh? That's going well, I presume?"

Josh feels himself grin. "Yeah." 

"Good." Sam says before pulling him into a tight hug. "I'm glad. I'm happy for you."

Josh hugs back, smiling. "Thanks, man."

They dated for a while when they first met but eventually figured out that they work better as friends. He's relieved that there's never been any awkwardness between them about it. Josh wouldn't trade Sam's friendship for anything.

They pull back at the same time as Josh says, "I'll see you later when the poll's in?"

"Definitely."

"Good luck, Sam." Josh says as he watches the other man turn toward the door.

Sam sends him a smile before leaving his office. 

-

When Josh hears the polling is done later that night, he heads straight toward CJ's office.

He comes in the office to find her staring out the window, her back to him. "It's in."

She swivels her chair around. "Yeah."

"You talk to him?"

"They sealed it an envelope and sent it by courier."

Josh nods. He rubs at his eyes for a moment, sighing as he leans against the wall by the door. "So, Joey mentioned she talked to you."

"Yeah."

He looks down at his feet. "She said you think you only have so many times left you can walk into the Oval Office and sing a song."

CJ looks up from her desk. "She said, "Sing a song"?"

"No, that's what I thought she said." He feels his face splitting into a smile. "I'm trying to pick up some sign. I know numbers and only a few random phrases so right now we're doing it by the letters of the alphabet."

CJ grins fondly at him and Josh laughs. "So, she had to spell it out for me, literally. It turns out she said that you think you only have so many times left you can come into the Oval Office and say, "You're wrong"."

"He hasn't been calling my number that much, Josh." She says, her grin gone.

He shakes his head. "He did on this - the last three weeks. The media strategy was yours." 

She throws up her hands. "I know."

"You should listen to Joey. Holding at 42 is a good number. You shouldn't expect a five-point bump."

"I do expect it." She says, her voice stern.

He lifts his chin up in acknowledgement. "Okay."

They spend the next few minutes in silence before Josh says, "He thinks of you like a daughter, CJ."

She shakes her head. "That's not a good enough reason to keep me here."

He stares, speechless for minute before leaning off the wall. "You'll come as soon as you get it? We'll all be waiting over there."

"Yeah." She looks down at her desk.

"Okay." He says, tapping the doorframe lightly.

Before he leaves the room, she looks up, her voice stopping him. "Josh?"

"Yeah?"

She smiles, thinly. "Sign, huh? Good luck with that."

Josh chuckles, winking at her before throwing a "Thanks" over his shoulder as he makes his way down the hall.

-

He opens the door to the Oval Office, softly. "Good evening."

"Evening, Josh." The President replies from his chair in the middle of the room.

Josh comes up beside Charlie in front of the couch closest to the door and leans forward with his hands braced on the back. "I just saw CJ. She'll be here with it in a minute."

Leo nods from behind the opposite couch. "Okay."

Josh watches as Kenny translates for Joey and how she nods at him from where they're both sitting on the couch in front of Leo. 

He sighs, bowing his head. After a minute of silence, he looks back up and addresses President Bartlet. "Joey and I have been working on a counterargument to Alexis De Tocqueville."

Joey squints at Josh, ridiculously.

"We're having a fight with Alexis De Tocqueville?" President Bartlet asks Joey.

"Mr. President, please don't get him started." She signs, pointing at him as starts Kenny translating. Josh grins and starts to walk around the room toward her.

"Joey, what say you to the position that, with ethnic warfare spreading around the globe," She crosses her arms, frowning at him. "And particularly, in eastern Europe, it's only a matter of time before it reaches our shores and making English the official language of the United States will safeguard against the destruction of our national identity and help us avoid ethnic warfare?"

He comes to a stop in front of the empty chair next to the one President Bartlet is occupying so he's standing right beside Kenny. "What say to that?"

Joey looks up at him with raised eyebrows and still crossed arms. She sticks her tongue out at him and blows a raspberry.

He grins, staring at the way her red lipstick shines before turning to the President. "You see that? That's what I've been dealing with all week."

President Bartlet smiles at him and Josh looks over to met Sam's eye who's been leaning against the desk behind them. The two of them share a soft smile before Kenny's voice echos through the room as he translates Joey's signs.

"Mr. President, 72% of Hispanics are strongly opposed to such a law. The Republicans will never put it on the table because they'll risk losing the second largest ethnic bloc of voters in the country."

"But, if you did need a counterargument then I'd menton to Monsieur De Tocqueville over here," She shoots Josh an unimpressed look. "That, aside from it being bigoted and unconstitutional, it's ludicrous to think that laws need to be created to help protect the language of Shakespeare."

"Okay." He points to her. "That's all I was looking for - that one line. It took you four days."

She smiles up at him before blowing him another raspberry.

"She did it again." Josh laughs, looking toward President Bartlet.

He nods. "Yeah."

Josh shakes his head fondly before turning back to look at Joey as she sits up straighter on the couch with a proud satisfied look on her face.

"Thank you." He says to her and without even thinking he begins to sign. He taps his chin with his fingers before bringing his hand forward and down. He then moves his hand away from his face with his fingers touching and opens them wide before tapping both sides of his cheeks with the tips of his fingers, all five of them still touching each other.

Kenny chuckles quietly and Josh feels a flush fight up his neck. He opens his mouth to speak but doesn't once he catches sight of the soft smile that Joey has on her face.

He hears Sam laugh behind him. "What does that sign mean, Josh?"

Josh throws a glare back at him but Sam just grins.

Joey's taking delight in his embarrassment if her grin means anything. She signs it again and speaks. "Sunflower."

Flustered more than he'd care to admit, he lowers his eyes to the floor as he drops down into the empty seat.

He hears Toby mutter quietly under his breath from his spot on the opposite couch. "Wow."

"It's a term of endearment he uses for me." She signs with an pleased look on her face. Thankfully, she said it aloud as well to save him the added embarrassment of hearing Kenny say those words.

After a momemt of awkward silence, Josh looks up at her through his eyelashes. She shrugs casually at the awkwardness radiating from everyone in the room as she mets his eye behind Kenny's back. 

Like with what usually happens when they're in the same room together, everyone else disappears and all he can see is her. Even now as they sit in the Oval Office with the President of The United States two feet away, she's shining like the sun and he's just a planet orbiting around her, helpless.

As always, Joey can tell the power she has over him and she smirks before sending him a wink.

He grins, breaking eye contact and looking down at his lap.

Leo awkwardly clears his throat before sitting next to Toby on the couch in front of Joey.

President Bartlet shakes his head at them, fondly Josh would like to think and looks over his shoulder at Sam. "What kind of briefcase did you get her, Sam?"

"Sir?" He asks, smile dropping from his face as he steps up closer.

"What kind of briefcase?"

Bewildered as the rest of them, Sam says, "The Coach Beekman in British Tan with brass hardware."

President Bartlet looks up at him. "That's nice."

"Yes, sir." Josh laughs to himself at the look on Sam's face.

The President continues, "Andare makes a nice model. Comes in black or brown. Hand-stained. You can fit a laptop, notebooks-"

Toby interrupts. "This whole conversation is surreal."

Josh feels put out by that but President Bartlet ignores him. "Trieste in Milan makes a nice briefcase."

Just then, the door opens and CJ walks in and the room goes quiet. Everyone sits up straighter as she makes her way over to stand in between Josh and the President with an envelope in her hands.

Leo stands up across from them as she speaks, "Good evening, Mr. President. The full polling book is 400 pages long and it's still being put together. I have the top sheet results."

"What does it say?" Leo asks.

CJ looks up at him. "I was wrong. We went up nine points."

Stunned, everyone looks at the smile on CJ's face before they all break out into huge grins and hushed congratulations. Leo pats Toby on the shoulder and as CJ hands President Bartlet the envelope, he squeezes her hand. 

Charlie is smiling widely from off the side of the room and Mandy is shaking her head fondly from where she's sitting by the door.

Sam lays a hand on Josh's shoulder, grinning down at him before his attention is drawn by Toby motioning him over to the other couch.

The moment Josh stands up, he makes eye contact with Joey and Kenny silently moves over so he can walk past him to stand next to her as she gets up from the couch.

"Nine." He signs, smiling while saying it aloud as well. She signs a quick "yes" as she grins.

He laughs before surging forward, cupping her face with his right hand and kissing her left cheek.

She's grinning when he pulls back and she pats his chest briefly, fiddling with his tie.

Josh steps to the side as President Bartlet shushes everyone so Joey can see Kenny. "Okay, what's next?"

The moment he says that, eveyone starts moving. Josh immediately goes to his side, taking the envelope he's holding out to him.

After a minute, he looks up from the results to see Joey talking with Mandy. Mandy's just given her a folder before Joey looks up.

For a brief moment, their eyes meet and he feels a surge of warmth tingle through his chest. The same feeling he had in her office the night she first kissed him. That same feeling he had when she scratched her nails down his back last night.

He can feel himself falling and he hopes, he hopes that that feeling in his chest never goes away.

**Author's Note:**

> i am not deaf or fluent in asl so i apologize if there are any mistakes 
> 
> title is from harry styles' song "golden"


End file.
